I walked into the staff room, having just finished a lesson with some rather noisy first-formers. Orien was already there, sitting in one of the chairs and drinking a cup of tea. She looked up as I entered, and we smiled at each other; it was time for the morning break, so we had a nice chance to relax and moan about various students. I glanced down at the pile of mail on a small table by the door, and was surprised to see a letter addressed to Orien on the top of the pile. I wondered why she hadn't picked it up herself - maybe she hadn't noticed it or something.

'Post for you,' I said, handing her the letter before sitting in the chair beside her. Then I got up again and poured myself a cup of tea while Orien opened her letter and started to read it. 'Who's it from?' I asked her, hoping that I sounded casually curious, and not nosey.

"My brother," I said absently. "I was dreading it would be from Emerson. Our double date was a disaster, wasn't it?"

Yvanna made a face. "Well..."

"First we have trouble sneaking out of the school," I said. "I can't believe you told the gardener that we were going into town to buy gloves, and that we would stay late because we were very particular about our gloves."

I rolled my eyes. 'Sure you are,' I said, then grinned. That was the sort of thing our students normally said. 'By the way, Emerson really likes you, from what I could see. He seems like a decent guy, too. Lucky...' I muttered under my breath.

"Oh, I don't know," I said, trying to hide my blush. I quite liked Emerson too, but we hardly knew each other yet. "And besides, that bartender seemed to really like you too. Didn't he ask you to go see the - er - dogfights next week?" I was aware that dogfights were illegal, but the bartender had been very enthusiastic.

'Only about five times,' I said, rolling my eyes. 'I'm afraid I had to turn him down. Really not my scene, dogfights.' I looked back at the letter in Orien's hand. 'Your brother say anything interesting?'

"I don't know yet," I said, turning back to the letter. Oliver's normally-neat writing was scrawled - he must have been in a hurry when he wrote it, or extremely agitated. As I read through the letter, I felt my eyes widening and my hand clenching. I read it through a second time, and then the important bits a third time.

I was dimly aware of Yvanna asking me if anything was wrong. "Oh..." I said, blinking and looking up at her. "It's just..." I looked around the staff room, then pulled Yvanna in the direction of the wardrobe where the teachers all hung their coats. "Get in," I said, shoving her inside and casting a silencing spell on the door."

I took a deep breath. "I have to tell you something," I said, "and you must promise not to interrupt or ask any questions until I'm done. Agreed?" Yvanna nodded, still looking surprised, and I told her about my involvement in Garret's murder at that pub in Wyverley. I told her what Oliver had told me in the letter: how the sisters had fled across the Wall, how Oliver and his friend Nate had gone across as well, about Nate's death - I choked up a bit at this point - about Oliver and Raylinn's capture, and what Cariel had done to ensure their freedom. "She's being held in Wyverley as we speak," I finished. I stopped, and waited for Yvanna's reaction.

"I... don't know," I admitted. "Oliver was always a bit - reckless. He'd make snap decisions without telling anyone. Like refusing to enrol in the officer's academy. I think he mentioned something about avenging Nate's death..." I fumbled with the letter. I really was worried about Oliver. I knew he could take care of himself, but if Nate had already died...

'Ah, right,' I said, still not really understanding. 'I don't suppose you'd know why this - what was her name? - Cariel? - why she would take her sister's place in prison. It doesn't make much sense to me. If my sister had murdered someone, I don't think I'd cover for her like that.'

"I don't know," I admitted. "But I met Cariel, on the night of the Winter Dance, when we were fighting that - um - that thing on Docky Point. She seemed really nice. And, well, maybe a bit stressed. We all were. But... Oliver asked me to visit her. You know, give her some company. I think I should."

"I don't think she knows anyone," I admitted. "She's from the Old Kingdom. I think that was her first time in Ancelstierre. And... well... in Oliver's letter, he wrote that she had been engaged to Nate." I didn't know quite what to feel about this. I'd liked Nate for a whole year, even though I'd only met him once.

'Engaged to him?' I repeated, blinking. Wasn't Nate the guy Orien had had a crush on? Orien nodded, but didn't say anything else. 'So...' I said, batting one of the coats out of the way. 'I assume you want to go and see Cariel, then?'

"Yes," I said, though I felt a bit nervous about visiting the police station and asking to see a prisoner. What would the Headmistress think. "Would you come with me?" I asked with a grin. "We can pretend we're going to Wyverley to buy gloves."

'Looking for our coats,' I said, in what was hopefully a convincing voice. 'We couldn't remember if we'd left them in there or not. The door shut while we were looking,' I added, then winced. That really hadn't sounded too convincing at all.

I tried not to stare at Yvanna or groan or roll my eyes or do anything in any way to confirm the obvous lie.

"I see..." said the Headmistress, looking between us. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the... glove shopping trip you went on last weekend, would it?"

"Gl- glove shopping trip?" I repeated faintly.

"The gardener had quite an interesting story to tell," said the Headmistress. "Something about two of the youngest teachers in my faculty getting back on the late bus and tripping over a wheelbarrow on the lawn on their way back."

I almost winced; Yvanna and I really had quite a bit to drink - Yvanna more than me, because the bartender kept insisting that she try different cocktails. She had tripped over the wheelbarrow, and I had fallen over trying to help her up. We'd thought that nobody had heard us, though.

'Oh, that,' I said, laughing a little. 'Well, as I told the gardener, we are both rather particular about our gloves. We came back so late because we'd spent so long trying to find a pair of gloves that we liked, that were also a sensible price. And I tripped over the wheelbarrow because... well, I'm a bit clumsy. And it was dark.'

I was starting to really hate the fact that I couldn't lie for toffee.

The Headmistress clearly didn't believe a word, and I very nearly buried my face in my hands. But I didn't. I needed to say something to save the situation.

"We may have had one or two drinks at the pub after our shopping trip," I admitted, trying to sound ashamed.

The Headmistress nodded. "I thought it was something of the sort. I do not mind my faculty going out once in a while to relax, especially you girls." I had to refrain from rolling my eyes at being called "girls". "But this sort of behaviour, sneaking back to the school late at night, is unacceptable. Do you understand me?" I nodded, trying to look apologetic. "Now this visit to Wyverley wouldn't be along the same lines, would it?" If the Headmistress' mouth got any thinner, it would cease to exist.

"No," I said. "My brother really did ask me to visit a friend." I folded over Oliver's letter so that only the bottom part was visible, and showed it to the Headmistress.

She nodded. "Very well. You may go to Wyverley, but I expect you both back at a decent time." She turned on her heel and left the staff room.

"I hate her, the old bag," I grumbled, throwing myself back into my chair. "Giving us permission to visit the town - who does she think she is?"

'Our boss?' I suggested, still looking at the staff room door. I poured myself another cup of tea, then got one for Orien too. 'At least she's letting us go,' I added. 'You know what she can be like sometimes.'

"I know," I sighed, accepting the cup of tea and taking a grateful sip. "I suppose I should write to the police station and notify them of our impending visit. Though if the dragon lady ever found out that we were visiting someone in prison..." I shuddered at the idea. Wyverley College was a place to educate "young women of quality", and the Headmistress prided herself on running a very tight ship. The slightest hint of inappropriate behaviour, and Yvanna and I would be sent packing. We all knew what had happened to the previous mathematics instructor.

'I'm sure she won't find out,' I said, sounding more confident about that than I felt. 'She doesn't read letters we send, and she doesn't intercept our post, so I don't really see how she would. Unless we run into someone we know while we're in Wyverly, that is...'